I believe many must be aware of the mishap in Gmail last week, as few of the accounts got disabled due to some reason. One of my friend was also a victim of this... But Good that Google retrieved everything in a week and he is again among the happy customers of google...

This is happening rarely in Gmail. Please make sure that you have backups of all your mails someplace to avoid any loss.

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=50208
http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/12/28/gmail...mail-deletions/

Ways to avoid loss
1. Forward all your incoming mails to another Backup ID (Easier way). So if something bad happens you always have your contents.
2. Gmail offers POP. So, you can enable it in your settings and download all your mails to your email client (thunderbird, outlook etc). This is more comfortable and i have been using this... Its the best.
3. If you want more options... IMAP is also available in gmail. You can go for that to have your contents safe.

You can use any of the above ways.... but make sure you have a backup is some way if thats your primary mail ID.

Also, do not keep your gmail always open in firefox as there are some proven issues related to this. If you are not using your account for long, sign it out. Upgrade your firefox often. Also do not close the browser directly. Always sign out.

And regarding having your contacts safe, export your contacts from time to time and have it safe in some place.

Happy stay in Gmail. .

Well, it haven't happened to me but I think is ridiculous to ask users to backup the information in their email accounts. I mean, google says thing like "why deleting anything? there's space enough" and all that. They're so confident in his product that encourages you not to delete mails because you can have them all and make searchs and that. An then something like this happens. Of course you have to save important data outside your email... but there are lots of things not "so" important that if you lose them you're gonna go crazy.

And for the options... I think it's no good to have two accounts, one just for forwarding. You are "using" another account when you only would need one. I mean, you can be as paranoid as you want with your data, but the fact is that it's their error and they should have the backups, not you. And remember that being free doesn't mean nothing, they're earning money with the personalized ads.

Anyway I didn't understand if it's google that says that we must backup or it's just your opinion. I think it's ridiculous either way.

Hey...

Its not GOOGLE that says to have backup. Its me.
Just because i know many people who have very important data in their inboxes including me... For those who use mails only for forwards its not a problem. For some who have a very big archive of really really important data that adds some value to their daily routine, its very important o have some alternatives for DATA loss...

Anyways there is no harm in taking backup if you can afford it (1GB in your hard drive...).
I think many or most can afford that much for their data rather than worrying about it after loss...

Also i won't say Paranoid... Rather "Preventive Measure".

Heh, Lucky my mail wasn't affected by this. I really should start backing up my mail somehow, huh? Either way, I trust Google ^^